Reunion and Anticipations
by VKPGrimoire
Summary: These are the events that transpire after season 6, episode 8.
1. Chapter 1

The sound of gunfire stopped and Deanna's screams subsided. Rick had little time to mourn as the sound of loud music filled the air. Everyone turned to see a hooded figure banging a pot and pan while dancing on a rooftop. Rick squinted at the figure for a moment, but then realized it was the perfect opportunity to get to the armory. He tapped Michonne and Carl to get them to focus on the task at hand.

Carl and Michonne nodded grimly and motioned for the others to follow Rick. Slowly they moved past the walkers. Rick tried to keep calm and avoid the "what if's" that rolled through his mind. "Guy's be ok," Rick thought as he tried to maintain his focus.

Tara, Rosita, and Eugene looked excitedly at one another as they saw the walkers walk away from the house. They all agreed that the armory would be the best place to start in liberating their home. Tara couldn't resist a glimpse at the person causing all of the commotion. She nodded at the figure as a sign of gratitude and ran to the armory.

Glenn clung to a tree as he saw the walkers turning their attention to a building right outside of the breach. The crazed individual would have a hell of a time getting out of their situation. Enid looked at Glenn defiantly. "This is suicide."

"No. This is an opportunity. I don't know who this guy is, but he's given us a chance to fix this."

Enid smirked. " _This_ can be fixed?"

"We've got to at least try." Enid nodded and Glenn frowned. She seemed to nod just for the sake of shutting him up. "I think I saw Eugene head for the armory I'm sure that's where everyone is going to meet up at. Let's go," Glenn said trying to mask is annoyance. He didn't have time to argue. Maggie was up on the platform alone with throngs of walkers below her. She wasn't going to stay up there any longer than she needed to be.

Glenn and Enid found a tree with a branch the grew by the wall. Glenn took off his shirt and began to tear it apart.

"What are you doing?"

"We'll get cut just hopping the fence with our bare hands."

Enid pulled some fingerless gloves from her bag. "I'm prepared." Enid climbed the tree.

"Enid!" Glen looked around to make sure there weren't any walkers around. "It's not safe. You don't know what's on the other side."

Enid ignored him and put on her gloves. Carefully, she balanced herself on the branch before leaning up against the wall. It was a short climb over and she was gone.

Glenn swallowed hard. He could hear that the branch had creaked under Enid's weight. He climbed up next and took in a deep breath. He decided he would rush it, and it was a good thing too. He could hear the sickening sound of the branch snapping. Glenn was able to grab on to the wall just before the branch gave way. He sucked in his breath as he swung over the wall.

Enid had killed two walkers by the time he got over. She stared at him impatiently.  
"Let's go," he said uneasily. Glenn ignored the ache in his chest as he quietly rushed over to the armory. He almost stopped at the sight of Rick and his group. He could only return the same smile that Rick gave him. They were both relieved to see see each other alive.  
"Glenn," Enid hissed as she took down a walker that had almost attacked him.

Glenn nodded in thanks and guided Enid to the armory. They slipped in and Glenn was greeted with a hug from Tara.  
"Is it just you three," Glenn whispered.  
"Yes. We had to leave Tobin in a closet." Tara sighed and returned to loading some guns. "He was injured when the clocktower fell."

"I'm sure he's uncomfortable. We had better get him out soon," Rosita said as she handed Glenn a gun.

"Who is the guy on the roof?"

"We don't know." Rosita looked at Glenn intently. "Did you see Abraham out there?"

Glenn shook his head and saw Rosita's disappointment. "He's with Daryl and Sasha. They won't let him do anything too stupid."  
Rosita smirked. "I don't know about that."  
Tara stepped in. "Did you see anyone else out there?"

"Yeah." Glenn looked at the door and was confused. "Rick and them weren't too far behind…"

Right on cue, Rick and his group stumbled into the armory. Glenn watched the haggard group rush in. Their eyes were wild and distressed. They were missing people. "Rick?" Rick looked at Glenn, and Glenn figured out who it was that was missing. Glenn knew there were no words to console Rick at this point.

"… Well, good! It looks like we have enough people to reclaim the compound." Tara rolled out a map in front of Rick anxiously. Glenn smiled at Tara. Tara had a special way at manipulating people without even wanting to. Rick should mourn, but not now. Now they needed to get together and reclaim their home.

Rick took a deep breath and nodded tersely. "All right…" Rick wiped his eyes and cleared his throat. He glanced at the map and the wheels in his head were turning. Glenn held his breath as he waited for Rick to form a plan.


	2. The Plan

The situation was tense and all eyes were on Rick.

"Tara, you'll go with me. Glenn, are you up for a run?" Glenn nodded. "Good. Then I'll need you and Rosita to distract some walkers away from our breach and run back to the western exit. Eugene, you'll open the door for them and remember to do it fast."

"M… me?"

Tara looked at Eugene. "Eugene. You can do this. You'll need to try for all of us."

"The western wall shouldn't have any walkers. Not too many have gotten now that we have that guy on the roof getting their attention." Glenn said reassuringly.

Eugene nodded hesitantly.

"Good. Now my team has got it the hardest. We're going to need to clear out the eastern wall. Michone, Tara, and I will take out as many as we can. Afterwards, Tara and I will do the same thing on the east wall as Glenn."

"What about the breach," Rosita asked.

"Dad, what about us?"

Rick looked at Carl as calmly as he could. "You, Enid, and Ron need to guard the armory."

"Dad, you know I'm not going to do that," Carl said flatly.

"Carl…"

"Okay, I'll that I'll just stay and then run off like I always do."

Rick bit his lip and almost broke skin.

"Rick…" Michone said hesitantly. How about the kids take on the western wall…"

"Michone…"

"Just hear me out Rick," Michone said firmly. "The kids will take on the western wall, Glenn's team will take the eastern wall. You know Glenn and Maggie have been separated for too long. They'll do good work together."

Before Rick could protest Glenn stepped in. "Once Rosita and I clear out the eastern wall we can get Maggie to help us. She was at the watchtower when that building fell down."

"How are you blocking that hole?" Rosita asked again.

"I don't know," Rick hated to admit it. "Maybe we can get into some cars…"

"May I interject?" The ever so awkward Eugene stepped forward. "Any of you know how to drive a bulldozer?"

Glenn perked up. "I have!"

"All right Carl, Enid, Ron and Eugene will take the western wall. Michone, Tara and I will still do the eastern wall. Rosita and Glenn will get the bulldozer."

A sudden boom shook the room. Glenn took a peek and came back in. "Something is on fire in the section of the town beyond the wall. There are a lot less walkers now."

"Well we're not in the clear still. Let's get this taken care of and then we'll worry about whatever that was." Rick opened the door and took out the first pale eyed creature in front of him. They all dispersed. The hooded figure stood back up and clanged on pots and pans. This time the figure was joined by two other bigger versions of itself. The saw a boombox slide down a rope to the outside of the wall.

"They look like they are tired," Tara murmured.

Laggy had quite the hoard below her. "Hey Maggie! A little help here," Rick shouted.

He saw her head pop up from the watchpost. "Rick," she shouted back excitedly. "Have you seen Glenn?"

"He'll be here. He's getting his armor."

"What?" Maggie looked at Rick confused for only a moment, but she picked up her rifle and began to fire. Rick tossed a bag of ammo onto her platform.


	3. Babysitting

Carl, Enid and Ron got to the gate.

"Okay Enid…" Carl began.

"You and I will take the walkers and Ron stays behind at the door," Enid said sternly.

"No," the boys said in unison.

"Ron doesn't have the same experience as we do."

"You know what," Ron said cooly. "She's right. You two should go."

Carl analyzed Ron. "You're going to lock us out."

"Carl," Enid gasped.

"What? You don't trust me?"

"Yeah, I don't trust you. You first tried to kill me in the garage and now your mom and brother are dead. I know it's tough for you right now, but you seriously don't want to go down that road Ron."

Enid stepped back. "Ron… maybe you should go home…"

"Home? Where is my _home_ Enid? Are you talking about the one crawling with those things?"

"… Ron…" Enid slowly approached him.

Ron whipped out his gun. "This all started with you and your dad. We didn't have any of this until you guys came. It's just been one big disaster!"

Enid stepped between the two boys. Her eyes looked at Ron sympathetically. "It was bound to happen. This always happens," Enid said calmly.

Ron's arm began to shudder and Carl put his gun against Ron's head. Ron lowered his weapon and began to cry. Enid looked at Carl. "Someone has to be with him and let it be you. I've always been on the run so I know how to outmaneuver them. You have used a gun longer than I have."

Carl wanted to object, but he felt like he would be acting like his father if he did. Enid did have a point. "Just come back safe."

Enid smiled and slipped through the gate.

Five minutes passed by and Eugene showed up almost out of breath. "Where's Enid?"

"She's out there," Carl snapped. Now he was stuck babysitting Ron and Eugene. He couldn't trust Eugene to have much of a spine to take care of Ron. "Look Eugene, I've got it from here. You can go back."

"I am unarmed and afraid to be by myself."

At least head admitted to being a coward. "Just look out for danger. I need to keep my eyes on the gate."

Ron sat there despondently for a little while. "You shouldn't leave Enid out there alone. What's wrong with you?"

"You're too unstable to trust Ron. Both you and I know that it's easy to manipulate Eugene…"

"I'm still here," Eugene mumbled.

"I know that, but it's something you've got to hear Eugene. You're a great help when times aren't tough, but you've got to work on standing up for yourself Eugene. Stop being scared! We need to depend on you as you depend on us in times of crisis." Carl frowned at seeing Eugene's slumped shoulders. "Eugene… I know you know it too, but it takes time. I'm just trying to push you along. You can do it Eugene. You've just got to encourage yourself."

Eugene nodded silently keeping his back towards Carl. Carl sighed as he stood in his stupid situation. Despite all that was going he had to worry about the living rather than the undead.


	4. Eliza

Glenn, Tara, and Michonne had to do a bit of fighting before getting to the bulldozer that was conveniently located near the wreckage. They slipped into the house that had the keys. The garage had so many keys on a billboard with numbers on it.

"What the hell is this," Glenn groaned.

"Don't worry," Tara said soothingly. "This is Eugene we're talking about. He's got a binder around here somewhere that will tell us…" Tara's eyes lit up as she pulled out a binder and tapped a page. Michonne and Glenn saw that it was a listing of what the keys to belonged to.

"Number 54. Okay let's go," Glenn grabbed the keys.

"Slow down Glenn. We need you alive to move the bulldozer." Michonne said sharply. "Let me lead. Tara, you cover his back."

Two unfamiliar teenage boys sat by the hooded figure on the roof. They climbed down at the sight of the bulldozer and began to fight off the crowd. "Can we wrap this up quickly," the hooded figure asked.

Michonne glanced at the hooded girl who was now too tired to be dancing and raising commotion.

Glenn nervously approached the gaping wall and began to push the debris to close up the gap. An unfamiliar face shook his head and shouted. "They'll climb over it! Just move the junk off of the wall and help us push the wall back in place!"

Glenn nodded and did as instructed. He cursed as he tried to lift the panel that had fallen, but the bulldozer couldn't manage to pick it up. Some more unfamiliar faces arrived and began to hack at the undead around them. Two bigger guys helped to clear off the debris and lifted the panel so that the bulldozer could push it into place. An annoying gap still existed but it stopped the walkers from coming in.

"Glenn?"

Glenn turned around and saw Maggy's smiling face.

"Maggy," Glenn said breathlessly as he rushed to her side.

"Hey lovebirds! We've still got to clear this place out," Rosita barked.

Glenn and Maggy fought side by side with renewed strength. Rick smiled at seeing the reunited lovers. "I guess I shouldn't separate you two."

"You better believe it," Maggy laughed.

The immediate area was clear. Rick turned to look at the strangers as they helped the small hooded figure come down. "It's been a long time Mr. Grimes."

Rick squinted. "Who are you?"

She uncovered her face to reveal a vaguely familiar face.

"It's me, Eliza!" After seeing he had trouble remembering who she was she piped. "Eliza Morales, from Atlanta."


	5. Carol

"Rick, we've got to talk," Rosita began.

"We've got to clean up first." Rick muttered. "We'll catch up later Eliza, but I'll need you and your team…" Rick suddenly realized that the strangers were all young. "I need you all to lock yourselves up in that house while we clean up around here."

"Rick, we saved your ass. I'm pretty sure we can help," Eliza smirked.

"Eliza, I don't think he'll be used to a kid saying ass," a woman said.

"They need our help…"

"… And we need rest Eliza. Some of us had quite a time reaching here." The woman replied.

"Aww come on Fox…"

"No," Rick and Fox said together.

"Fine," Eliza moped and followed her friends into a building.

"Rick," Rosita grabbed Rick's shoulder. "Rick! Carol, Morgan, and Denise are gone."

Rick stared at Rosita for a long time trying to process what she had said. He sucked in a deep breath. "That is important, but we've got to clear out the compound." Rick turned to everyone else. "Let's split up. Maggie and Glenn you three flank the right. Micchone and Tara on the left. Rosita and I will take center."

They all dispersed. Rosita scanned the area, "I thought I'd check in on them. See, before we got to the armory we found Carol and Morgan knocked out on the ground. The wolf guy had a knife against Denise's throat. He took off with Denise with one of our guns." She let Rick finish his groan. "I went to go check in on them before regroup and found that they were both gone."

"Once we regroup we'll need to make a plan. It's going to be hard without Daryl around. I'm sure Carol and Morgan are out trying to recover Denise."

Carol stormed away from the town. Her eyes smoldered as she looked on ahead. Morgan trailed behind. "Carol… I'm sorry."

"Don't follow me Morgan."

"Look… You just can't do this alone. You shouldn't even be out here. You're hurt. Let me get Denise."

Carol laughed and rolled her eyes. "Right… I can see how that goes. Hey can we have Denise back?"

"I'll fight for her Carol," Morgan said firmly.

"I'm sure. Just like you fought for that wolf."

"Carol…"

"No! No this is not about you! Do you know how this happened? It's because you were too afraid to admit to yourself of who you are! Since you are trying to focus on being something that you're not: a good guy. Good guys don't even exist! But we can be responsible Morgan." Carol turned around and followed after the trail that she could faintly see.

She could feel that Morgan had given her a lot of space but he was still following her. Except for the occasional walker ruining the trail she felt like she was doing all right.

She smiled warmly as she thought how proud Daryl would be as she read the landscape to find Denise. She took in the small comfort that she was no longer caged in that town feeling restless and wondering when Daryl would get back. Who knows, maybe their paths might cross and they could go home together.

Morgan trailed behind while looking at Carol. He ignored all thought about the events. Thinking about what he had done wrong wasn't going to help their current situation. Once they got Denise and returned back to town Morgan promised himself that he'll leave in the middle of the night. He had made too many mistakes while in town. It'd be a wonder if anyone would forgive him for it.

Dusk came much too early. He saw that Carol had given up. It would be difficult to see the trail in the dark. He watched Carol take down a walker and cover herself with its gore. She climbed up the tree to sleep.

Morgan sighed and went to go look for his own walker. When he returned to his spot he heard a shout. Morgan deftly moved closer to Carol's tree. She was being dragged away by six men. Morgan's legs buckled and he couldn't move any closer. Someone was left behind to keep a look out.

"Hey there sweetheart. I've got a question for you," the leader said as he nudged her with his boot. "What comes to mind when you think of a ginger, a black femme fatale, and a white trash biker driving a truck?" Carol looked mystified for only a moment. Morgan winced when Carol's face gave away that she knew who this man was talking about. "I see that the answer escapes you. Well let me tell you the answer: a pissed off Negan. I'm going to take you on back and ask you a few questions. If you answer right we might just let you live, but don't test me. People look at me and think I look like a nice guy… and I am a nice guy! It's just my baby Lucille… well, she's got quite a temper."

There was something that glistened in the moon's light… something dreadful. Negan swung into the air in excellent form. It was a baseball bat with barbed wire.


	6. Lycaon

Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham stared intently at the biker gang. Outgunned and outnumbered, they wondered what their next step would be. Their eyes were averted to a grotesque man covered in guns and blood. Whatever it was hat was chasing him seemed to be more frightening that the biker gang.

It all happened in the bat of an eye. Rocks tied by rope wrapped the man's torso. A fierce creature jumped from the treelike and landed on the man's back. His eyes stretched as widely as he could as he took in his last glimpse of the world around him. A knife plunged into his neck and he went limp. A woman drank in the air thirstily and when she looked up at the sky a familiar symbol became apparent on her forehead. "W" the sign of the wolves.

The bikers turned their arm towards the woman.

"Hold your fire boys," the man smirked. "You wouldn't happen to be Lycaon would you?"  
The woman turned calmly to look at the biker. Despite the calm demeanor there was still a fierce light in her eyes.

"Ah… Negan's men," she said calmly while keeping her crouch. "My apologies… eh… Garrett. Have I interrupted a family reunion?"

Sasha raised her eyebrow at the creature before her. Despite the six guns aimed at her she seemed unfazed. "What would it cost me to gain an audience with Negan?"

Garrett whistled in surprise. " _You_ want to join us now?"

"Hardly." She dug into her pocket which put the men on edge again. "Instead, allow me to give you a parting gift. It's what little information I have on his sort." She nodded to the dead man.

"Why should we care?"

"You don't have to care now, but you will care later. I am hoping that you will sort them out when the time comes. They kill for the sake of killing."

"I think we know more about them than you give us credit." Garrett said throwing the paper to the side. "We even knew that they've tried to recruit you."

"I apologize, I've just noticed that your quarry has run off behind your truck."

"Stupid bitch," Garrett cursed as he turned for the truck.

Abraham's wild eyes gleaned from knowing that they've made their escape, and what's more he was carrying the prize of the trip on his shoulder. Sasha trailed behind feeling uneasy about the woman who had watched them run off. She watched Daryl as he deftly lead them through the forest. He was quick and very silent unlike the lumbering Abraham and his toy. She was glad to have it but was nervous that he was the one carrying the RPG.

"We need to stick it out for another three days," Daryl uttered.

"And then your dead…"  
The group froze. Sasha's wide eyes scanned the perimeter. "Not from me of course," Lycaon said casually. She revealed herself alone with a bald young man next to her. "Easy…" she cooed. "I'm actually interested in helping you rather than accosting you."

"Trying to show off your vocabulary," Sasha said cooly.

"I was a literature teacher… But enough about me. This little deal that I'm offering will be expiring shortly. Garrett and company will be searching for you and I'd rather not have to fight them."

"Why side with him?"

"I'm not siding with you necessarily. I just need to see if any survivors from my clan are at your facilities."

Daryl looked at Sasha for advice. Sasha nodded at Daryl.

Abraham puffed, "What? No one asks me for advice?"

"You're irrelevant." Sasha stared Abraham down, but he smiled at her mischievously.

"Well I think we have an agreement. We should probably break into a a run right now." Lycaon bolted into a run. They weaved through the trees and slid through the mud. She had her acolyte brush the leaves about to remove their tracks.

"Let's just settle up here for a bit and let our pursuers meet their demise. Unfortunately, Negan's men are tenacious. They hate being slighted and will make people pay for whatever inconvenience is thrown their way."

"We're outgunned," Sasha hissed.

"Five versus six? Not bad odds." Lycaon cleared the leaves away and opened a box. She handed her man a crudely customized weapon. "Let the games begin."

Sasha, Abraham and Daryl watched in silence as three members of the motorcycle gang approached them. Lycaon's companion whooped as he fired. A bright light followed by a loud boom the two men were annihilated and the third was left without legs. Sasha aimed her gun at the wailing man, but Lycaon grabbed her arm. "Let him distract the undead while we get out of here. It would help cover our trail and give Garrett something else to concern himself about."

"We could've taken their guns," Daryl snapped.

"Well Balto decided that we didn't need to take their bullets. We are alive to live another day."

"Balto?" Abraham raised a brow.

"He's our mock shaman here. I daren't call him a doctor." Lycaon picked up her pace and they eventually found themselves in a clearing. There was a house barely standing against the elements. It was surrounded by barbed wire and cans strewn along the fence line. "Welcome to the sticks. This is Balto's old abode.

"It's where I used to cook." Balto opened the gate.

"We'll set up for the night." Lycaon said.

"Yeah, but first, let me clean up house." Something about his tone startled Lycaon.

Everyone watched silently as he approached the house. Balto took in a deep breath and seemed to be psyching himself up for something. He opened the door. "Ayyye! Fonzie!" A sickening splat could be heard. Balto dragged out a body and threw it over the fence.

"That was heartless," Lycaon said dryly.

"Well it's not him right. He's just a body now."

"Anything we can used in there?"  
"A roof over our heads and four walls to block the wind. What more can you ask?"

"All right. You can stop being snippy. Get in there."


	7. Responsibility

"When we realized that Fort Bennington was taken over we left as quickly as we could, but in our rush we accidentally came across a heard of them on the highway. We ran, but my brother fell. My mom went to go pick him up and…" Eliza wiped her eyes. "Sorry… It still hurts…" Eliza took a deep breath. "My dad grabbed me and we ran as far as we could. We found a group, but that didn't last too long either. We were attacked by a group of people so we had to run away again. We had to run in the rain and we didn't have any shelter. He had me wait in an outhouse while he cleared a farmhouse for us to stay in. My dad caught pneumonia that night… I did everything I could, but I didn't know how to save him… Lycaon and Fox had come in with a small raid to train their students how to do a raid. That's how they found me. After I told them about my father Lycaon told me to wait outside while she talked with him. Dad seemed to trust her… and he didn't want to become a walker." Eliza swallowed the knot in her throat. "He gave her permission to kill him after he let me know what was going to happen. I miss him a lot, but I'm really glad to have met Lycaon and Fox. They kept me going when I thought I couldn't go on." Eliza looked up at Rick. "Rick, they're not like the wolves who attacked you. They know what the wolves are doing is wrong, but they're not as strong as Grey and his whole group. They just want to protect the ones who can't protect themselves, but now that you're here you can help us… I know you'll help us."

Rick opened his mouth to say something when Rosita grabbed his shoulder. She was breathless and her eyes told him that she wasn't going to wait. "Rick I've looked everywhere and I can't find Carol or Morgan." Rosita saw that Rick was having a hard time processing what she was saying. "We saw Carol and Morgan rush into one of the townhouses. When we got there, the wolf guy somehow laid them out cold. He took Denise. When I went back to see if they were okay they were gone."

Rick winced. "They must've gone to get Denise back…"

"They're going to get themselves killed."

Rick nodded his head. He wanted so badly to go out there and find Carol, but his responsibility was the town. Even though they had killed all of the walkers in the vicinity there would always be that lingering feeling that they might have missed one and there could always be another attack or breach. He could see it in the eyes of the townspeople that they were very uneasy. "Michonne lets have a talk."

Michonne nodded and walked with Rick out of hearing distance from the group. "I'm tapped out of ideas Michonne. I don't know what to do."

Michonne fell into an eerie silence.

"Damn it Michonne! We've been with each other for how long and you can't even spit it out?"

"Rick… I don't even like saying this myself, but you have a responsibility… I have a responsibility. This town is our home and we have to protect it." Michonne looked at Rick with determination. "I think we should trust Carol in this. She got us out of Terminus. I think she knows her limits. If something goes wrong she'll come back. I have faith in her."

Rick sucked in a deep breath. It would be hard to just let things be. Carol had done so much for the group. In a way she was the group's rock. Michonne was his go to, but somehow Carol just had a way with everyone. If something were to happen to her they would all take it very badly. He didn't know how to tell the group.

Michonne grabbed his shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. "I'll talk to them. You've done enough for today Rick. Go home and rest. We all need to, but you've been the one to take charge. We need you at your best Rick." She gave him a warm smile and returned back to the group.

Sleep. Rick shook his head. How could he sleep when he was missing too many people?


	8. Too Much to Do

"When we realized that Fort Bennington was taken over we left as quickly as we could, but in our rush we accidentally came across a heard of them on the highway. We ran, but my brother fell. My mom went to go pick him up and…" Eliza wiped her eyes. "Sorry… It still hurts…" Eliza took a deep breath. "My dad grabbed me and we ran as far as we could. We found a group, but that didn't last too long either. We were attacked by a group of people so we had to run away again. We had to run in the rain and we didn't have any shelter. He had me wait in an outhouse while he cleared a farmhouse for us to stay in. My dad caught pneumonia that night… I did everything I could, but I didn't know how to save him… Lycaon and Fox had come in with a small raid to train their students how to do a raid. That's how they found me. After I told them about my father Lycaon told me to wait outside while she talked with him. Dad seemed to trust her… and he didn't want to become a walker." Eliza swallowed the knot in her throat. "He gave her permission to kill him after he let me know what was going to happen. I miss him a lot, but I'm really glad to have met Lycaon and Fox. They kept me going when I thought I couldn't go on." Eliza looked up at Rick. "Rick, they're not like the wolves who attacked you. They know what the wolves are doing is wrong, but they're not as strong as Grey and his group. They just want to protect the ones who can't protect themselves, but now that you're here you can help us… I know you'll help us."

Rick opened his mouth to say something when Rosita grabbed his shoulder. She was breathless and her eyes told him that she wasn't going to wait. "Rick I've looked everywhere and I can't find Carol or Morgan." Rosita saw that Rick was having a hard time processing what she was saying. "We saw Carol and Morgan rush into one of the townhouses. When we got there, the wolf guy somehow laid them out cold. He took Denise."

Rick winced. "They must've gone to get Denise back…"

"They're going to get themselves killed."

Rick nodded his head. He wanted so badly to go out there and find Carol, but his responsibility was the town. Even though they had killed all of the walkers in the vicinity there would always be that lingering feeling that they might have missed one. He could see it in the eyes of the townspeople. "Michonne lets have a talk."

Michonne nodded and walked with Rick out of hearing distance from the group. "I'm tapped out of ideas Michonne. I don't know what to do."

Michonne fell into an eerie silence.

"Damn it Michonne! We've been with each other for how long and you can't even spit it out?"

"Rick… I don't even like saying this myself, but you have a responsibility… I have a responsibility. This town is our home and we have to protect it." Michonne looked at Rick with determination. "I think we should trust Carol in this. She got us out of Terminus. I think she knows her limits. If something goes wrong she'll come back. I have faith in her."

Rick sucked in a deep breath. It would be hard to just let things be. Carol had done so much for the group. In a way she was the group's rock. Michonne was his go to, but somehow Carol just had a way with everyone. If something were to happen to her they would all take it very badly. He didn't know how to tell the group.

Michonne grabbed his shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. "I'll talk to them. You've done enough for today Rick. Go home and rest. We all need to, but you've been the one to take charge. We need you at your best Rick." She gave him a warm smile and returned back to the group.

Sleep. Rick shook his head. How could he sleep when he was missing too many people?


	9. Fox

"All right everyone. I took a nap and I'm recharged. Michonne has briefed me on what's been done and I've got to commend you all for your hard work. Sadly enough, this is only the beginning. We're not ever going to be as laid back as we were before. I can't do this on my own and I welcome any ideas that you might have. You don't need to voice them now, but whatever ideas you have about what I have to say, I'll need you to write it down.

"Here are some things I want you all to think of. We're going to need to do something about any obstruction that lies around the walls, inside and out. We don't want another clocktower incident. Inside isn't so much of a problem but the outside will be. We're also going to need to develop a plan to draw the rest of the walkers away from town. We need our tired friends to be able to get in without too much trouble. We'll need to find a more permanent solution for the breach. We'll also need to come up with plans for food and water. Last subject on my mind is getting you all prepared to fight. There will come a time where you will need to fight.

"Pick a subject to think about, and we'll discuss it in our meeting tonight. In the meantime, I'm going to need a lot of you to rest because we're going to start up a watch. We'll have cars parked along each wall so that you can honk the horn to let us know something is coming. Eugene and Michonne can you take care of that? For right now I'll need volunteers for the first watch. I'll take the side of the breach, but I'll need someone to join me." Fox raised her hand. Rick didn't like the idea of being alone with a wolf, but it would be good to know more about Eliza's group. "All right. Now I'll need a set to take up the north wall." Only the usual people volunteered: Aaron, Heath, Spencer, but surprisingly Father Gabriel. "All right, I'll need the watch to go ahead and go to your stations. I'll also need to get volunteers for the second watch." Everyone looked around sheepishly. "Hey… I need you all to look at one another. This is all we've got. We're all going to need to step up to the plate. It's scary at first, but you'll eventually get used to it. We've got our injured so they obviously won't be able to take up the watch."

Nicholas raised his hand.

"Put your hand down Nicholas," Rick said trying to fight back his frustration.

Nicholas looked at his neighbors angrily. "Do you know how much they do for us? That tower was going to come down eventually and what would've happened if Rick and his group weren't here to help us?" Everyone looked down guiltily. "Raise your hands… Raise your hands!"

Everyone looked to see that the gentle giant was no longer the man that they had recognized. His face was red and grim. One by one hands were raised. Grim smiled with satisfaction. "Nicholas, you did good work," Rick muttered. "Can you organize them? I'm going to go meet up with Rosita."

Nicholas nodded looking a little shocked by his influence.

Fox was waiting for Rick. "Didn't think it was going to be so easy for you to find more volunteers."

"… Yeah… So how about we get to know each other."

"I hope that wasn't a come on," Fox said sounding a little annoyed.

Rick raised his eyebrow. "No. Just need to see if I can trust you. I just want to hear about your history."

Fox stared into the woods for a little bit. "My sister and I were on a trip together. I wanted to do something with her before I moved to Seattle. I'm glad it happened when it did. It would've been nuts for me to not know how my family was doing. We didn't get very far before I found out what happened to my parents. So we drove. We panicked and didn't think about staying somewhere where we were familiar. It would've been good to be able to have escape routes and safe houses. We joined a couple of groups. Some of them were too violent for us and some of them were taken over quickly because they were too nice and trusting. My sister was a martial arts nut so we got out of a lot of scrapes because of her skills. She even trained me. I'm still nowhere as good as she is.

After our last group fell we were on the run. My sister got caught in a trap and I went to go look for something soft for her to land on. That's when I met Gray…" Her eyes stared deeply into the forest. "I had convinced him that my sister and I would be more beneficial to his group by being trainers for young and new recruits."

"He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would want trainers. The way Morgan put it, it was all survival of the fittest."

"Foxes aren't exactly part of the wolf family."

"… Oh…"

"I'd rather you not talk about it with anyone else. I'm sure everyone knows about it, but I think it's out of respect to my feelings that no one talks about it in front of me. I never liked it, but if it meant a somewhat safe harbor and protecting lives of people who would've died otherwise… I think I've convinced myself that I did the right thing. I might have gotten rabies from it, but there isn't a doctor to check me."

"Yeah… I kind of killed him."

Fox looked at Rick in surprise.

"He wasn't a nice guy. He also killed someone very important to our group."

There was some silence. "Eliza trusts you a lot. I'm not sure if I can trust the people you are leading though."

"They've been living the old life up until my group showed up… Well we kind of gave them a taste of it until your people showed up."

"They probably know about their mistake by now. Our camp was attacked when they left. We showed up a lot sooner than we were planning to because of the attack…" Fox made Rick duck. "Someone is coming."


	10. Where's Carol

Lycaon's eyes flashed open as she heard cans rattling in the night air. She got up and was about to wake Balto when she noticed Daryl was staring straight at her. She didn't like his dangerous glare. He didn't trust her and wouldn't hesitate to spear her heart with an arrow.

She wondered why he thought she was more dangerous than whatever it was that had sounded the alarm. "Shouldn't we check what that was? It might have been Negan."

"We'd be full of holes if it were the guys from the road."

Lycaon nodded in agreement.

"They're gone."

"You sound pretty damn confident. Let me take the rest of the watch. I have some thinking to do."

Daryl kept his gaze on her. "You can do whatever you want. If it were up to me, I'd still be heading for Alexandria."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah… We came across someone's old neighborhood and the whole town was dead. There were a lot of W's on people's foreheads."

"That had happened before we joined the group. The Wolves were in good spirits when my sister and I joined."

"What would make you join that kind of group?"

"Join or die…" Lycaon seemed to want to avoid the subject. "You don't need to trust us. I just need to know if my sister is alive. That's all that matters to me. If she's anywhere she'd be with your group."

"Why is that?"

"Do you know of a girl name Eliza?"

Daryl's eyes lit up.

Lycaon smiled a little. "She got really excited when she heard that a sherif and an asian man were spotted heading towards your town…"

Daryl's smile dropped. "How do you know about where we live?"

Lycaon couldn't remember the last time she felt afraid. She had just stepped a land mine. She tapped Balto's foot. "You should probably go."

"He ain't going nowhere…"

"What's going on Daryl," Sasha asked sternly. She held her gun at Lycaon.

Lycaon looked back at them fiercely. "You may do as you wish with me, but do it after I get you home.

"Why should I promise you anything? You attacked my group!"

"I will take full responsibility," Lycaon said calmly.

"Lycaon what the hell are you doing?" Balto wasn't going anywhere. It was obvious he would die for her if the situation ever presented itself.

"Daryl… Let's just see what kind of damage has been done before we do anything to them. You wouldn't want to kill an innocent person would you?"

Daryl laughed at Sasha trying to be the calm, cool one in the situation.

"Daryl," she said again, but more firmly.

Daryl lowered his crossbow as the morning light danced its way into the shack.

"Yeah… whatever…" Daryl stormed outside and took a quick glance at the breach. He was hoping to find something to shoot.

"Come on Daryl. You're the only one that can lead us," Sasha said trying to smooth out her authoritative edge.

Daryl could feel that Sasha sympathized with him, but all he wanted to do was kill the people who may be responsible for his friends lives. Daryl nodded and lead the way.

"What were you looking at anyway," Abraham asked.

"We heard a noise shortly before we woke you all up," Lycaon answered.

"They weren't one of us. Whoever it was, they were damn clumsy. Left a mess of a trail back there." Daryl muttered.

"Maybe it was one of the Alexandrians," Abraham mused.

"It doesn't matter. We need to get home and assess the damage first," Sasha snapped. Daryl smirked. Sasha was fighting against her attraction for Abraham. He stopped and motioned for the others to stop as well. He could hear the sound of shuffling of feet and low moans.

Lycaon began to climb a tree and saw that there were a lot of walkers ahead, but what really caught her eye was the steel wall up ahead. She climbed down and motioned the rest to follow her.

They stopped at a tree with a hanging limb. "What did you see," Sasha asked.

Lycaon smiled. "My sister was with one of your people."

A horn could be heard in the background. It was far away, but Daryl could tell that the walkers were interested. He motioned for everyone to stay put. They took down a couple of straggling walkers until Rick and Glenn showed up.

Rick gave Daryl a quick embrace and slapped him on the back. They rushed back in through the gate.

Daryl was at a loss for words. Rick, Carl, Micchone, Maggie, Glenn, Tara, Rosita, and Aaron were all there. He almost wanted to cry in relief.

"God you don't know how good it is to see you guys," Rick said looking just as bad as Daryl.

"What happened," Sasha said looking at the group.

Daryl was so used to seeing how they used to look before Alexandria. Now everyone was dirty and haggard. He looked at Rick for answers.

"There was an attack and right after that, the clocktower collapsed on the wall."

Daryl looked around desperately. That order, that rest that he had finally gotten so used to was gone. It was now the war zone that he was used to seeing outside the wall. It was such a strange sensation, to have the old life suddenly crashing back into him.

"… Carol… Where's Carol?"


	11. Abandon All Hope

"Daryl… Daryl!" Rick yelled as Daryl turned around to go back out.

"You'll need your rest. If you want someone who knows these woods better than…" Lycaon began.

"Gen!" Fox grabbed hold of Fox and cried. "I'm so happy that you're here now!"

"Hey can you let go now? I'm really tired."

"Sorry," Fox jumped back but still looked just as excited as the moment she hopped into the group. "Let me help you to your bed. Maggie, will you help us?"

Daryl shot an angry look at Rick. "How come you have a plan for everything, but the one time Carol needs _our_ help you're just sitting on your fucking hands?"

"Daryl…" Rick looked weak and sad.

Micchone stepped in between the two men. "I advised him that we should stay. Do you remember Carol back at Terminus? She knows what she can handle, but in case you were wondering we are going to go out for her as soon as we get the town under control. Look at these people! They're scared! They don't know this kind of life, and they don't need to see us acting like we don't got our _shit_ together now do they?" Micchone's face was only an inch away from Daryl's.

Daryl threw his bag to the ground and walked away.

"I'll help get Carol," Sasha began.

"No Sasha, we need you here. You're skills are better put to use at the watchtowers. You've got the best aim out of all of us. I'll go, but we need to secure the area before anything else. No point in bringing Carol back if the town falls under."

Lycaon's eyes opened to see that it was now night. She heard some arguing outside and took a look. She saw Rick, Daryl and a man arguing at the gate. The man looked like he had seen hell. She slipped out of the room and walked up to the group.

"What's going on?"

They looked at Lycaon with mild irritation and continued their discussion.

"Did they say anything at all about where they were going," Rick asked.

"No," the man shook his head furiously. "There was a lot of blood when they left. Carol didn't look too good. Said he had some questions for her." He looked at Daryl hesitantly. "I think he was looking for you guys."

"Shit!" Daryl leaned his head up. "That's it, I'm going."

"You can't see anything in this dark," Rick hissed.

"I can see plenty!"

"I'm going with you." They both looked at Lycaon furiously.

"Why does this concern you," Rick asked suspiciously.

"It doesn't but I have a lot to do and it can't be done behind closed doors."

"Do you know who Negan is," Morgan asked cautiously.

Lycaon's eyes widened and she looked at Daryl. "If you want to help your girlfriend then you had better let me help you. We will need more than just us though. You won't even get close to her without a few others."

"What can you tell us about him," Rick asked.

"One of my associates stole a bag of oats from him thinking that he wouldn't be too mad since Negan doesn't like oats. Apparently, stealing is far more loathsome. He didn't just kill my man, but he let him suffer. I won't say anything more until you at least have two more people on the job. We won't succeed in extracting her otherwise."

"I'll get Micchone. Morgan, make sure he doesn't leave." Rick ran off into the night.

"How bad was she," Daryl asked softly.

"I didn't get too close. He had men on watch."

"I know where they live. They normally have only ten men at their base during daylight. They have five go out and hunt for food and anything else that can be useful. Getting in might be a little difficult since my friend and I had snuck in the only way we knew how."

"What's their fortification like?"

She looked at Daryl. He had calmed down. "Well it's a lot like this, but smaller and with barbed wire on the top… He really likes barbed wire…" Lycaon didn't want to say too much on the matter. "Since they don't have a large group they have a single man guarding each side of their complex. Now these men aren't like regular people like you or I. These are former mercenaries. They know how to fight and what is worse they all work under Negan. You can't find anyone more depraved than him." She saw Michonne and Sasha heading their way. "Before going out there, there is something that you need to know." She watched Daryl cautiously. "You will need to acknowledge that it is already too late…" Daryl turned around. "No Daryl. You will need to abandon all hope. Your friend is either dead, or we are going there to put her out of her misery. She won't be coming back here alive."


	12. Someone to Blame

*** Trying to wrap this up in one to two more chapters

"You seem pretty relaxed out here," grunted Daryl as Lycaon slipped through some railcars.

"Need to do a bit of shopping." Lycaon found some walkers dressed in military fatigues. She took some grenades from them and handed them over to Balto. She was very mad at him for tagging along. He was making the group nervous with his sulking and sorrowful gaze towards her.

She quickly climbed up a car. When she returned, she brought down a sniper rifle. Michonne pretended not to be offended by the smell of vomit. "Sasha will like that," Michonne said trying to make the situation light.

"There are plenty of things to be had, but I think we should get what we can carry lightly and move fast. These are very dangerous men. If Carol had talked, everyone at the base is in danger. We need to move as quickly as possible."

Lycaon saw Balto carrying an rpg. She waved for everyone to follow her.

Daryl's palms were drenched as Lycaon began to slacken her pace. It was dark now, and he could feel the intense focus she held. Thoughts of Carol reeled through his mind. What would he see when they got there?

She signaled for everyone to stop. Daryl looked at Lycaon. She was now in a shrunk position and she crept through the woods. Daryl didn't wait. He followed. He ignored Lycaon's dark looks and slipped through the woods quietly. He could now see the wall and the dancing light of the flames behind the wall. He stopped as he saw movement. Two men stood on a platform tying up a platform. A third man dumped something onto the platform and left.

"Daryl… You need to leave…" Lycaon whispered desperately.

Daryl stayed exactly in his spot.

"Daryl… Damn it Daryl," Lycaon hissed and rushed away from him.

Daryl saw the two men pick up the lump. When they left he realized what it was that he was looking at. A mangled, lithe figure was silhouetted against the glowing light of the flames. Daryl could hardly breath.

"It's not Carol," he whispered. He shook his head as Balto and Morgan dragged him away. He tried to fight them off but Balto was much stronger than him.

"Get your fucking…"

Michonne looked at Balto angrily as she turned away from watching Lycaon. Her retching made Michonne uneasy. "What is wrong with her?"

"She's dying," Balto whimpered.

Michonne took in a deep breath. "Why is she coming with us," she whispered.

"She wants it to look like she left the group when this is over. She wants us to lie that she isn't dead."

"So she's on a suicide mission?" Michonne's eyes blazed with fury, but seeing the blood in Lycaon's vomit she couldn't find the nerve to yell at her.

"Lycaon, please let me help you," Balto cried. His shaking hand pulled out a bottle of morphine. Lycaon looked at Balto hesitantly and then nodded her head.

Daryl looked at the two angrily. "I need to get her down Morgan."

"I'm not letting you out of those cuffs Daryl. You'll endanger us all."

Daryl pushed his face close to Morgan. "You don't know what I'll do."

Morgan leaned back. "So what are you going to do Daryl? You're going to take your Desert Eagle with your army of one and take down possibly fifteen men? Somehow I don't believe that. If what I have heard about Carol is true, then how could someone like you take down that many when she wasn't even able to get one of them?"

"She was just caught off guard."

Morgan nodded. "Maybe, or maybe you two have met your match. Maybe the people in that cell are just a bunch of people like you and Carol. Ruthless. Kill now and ask questions later…" Morgan stopped at seeing Daryl's eyes.

"Isn't this your fault?"

Morgan couldn't find an answer.

"That's enough," Lycaon growled. "This is life. Shit happens. Give me a moment to get myself together and then we're going to go in. Balto will give us an entrance and we'll just have to go at it. It's not a very big fort and there really isn't much in it except for some supplies, but you don't want to aim on their northwestern corner. They keep their supplies there and with that ammo."

"Doesn't sound like too much of a plan," Morgan whined.

"We should go back to finding out who is to blame," Lycaon said before closing her eyes for a nap.


	13. Drawing to a Close

A whistling sound ripped through the air. A large gaping hole emitted dark smoke with flickers of flames lapping around the wall's breach. Gun fire replaced the subtle bird's song as Daryl's team advanced into the mess inside the fort. Torn bodies laid in the dirt with the wild eyed living looking for cover.

Daryl took cover, but he saw that Lycaon and Balto ruthlessly tore into the scene. They hardly looked human as they swiftly dispatched Negan's men.

"Mi casa es su casa," a lazy voice said behind him. Daryl turned and barely stopped a bad from cracking open his skull. Barbed wire clawed at his skin as Negan forced his bat down on Daryl's knife. "Not bad cowboy, but how long do you think you can hold this up?"

Daryl looked back at him defiantly. The guy was unbelievably stronger and didn't seem to be breaking a sweat.

"Negan," Lycaon's dull voice pierced the air.

Negan looked up and kicked Daryl. "Hey beautiful. You didn't need to go through all this to get a date with me."

"I'm not interested in a date…" She smirked viciously. "I'm interested in a game."

Daryl suddenly felt that he was being lifted. Balto was dragging him away. "What are you doing," Daryl growled.

"What kind of game darling?"

"A ball game. You've got the bat, but not the ball."

Balto was sobbing as he carried Daryl out of the fort. "I'm not your damn princess…" The sound of an explosion ripped through the air. Balto fell to his knees. Daryl look up at Balto's anguished face. Tears streamed down his eyes while an empty scream strangled him.

Daryl's eyes widened and he ran back to the for as best as he could. He looked over the wall to see nothing but more smoke, gore, and burnt earth where Negan and Lycaon once stood.

Daryl was about to turn to kick Balto's ass, but then he saw the familiar shadow silently staring back at him. Daryl's chest rose as he took in deep breaths. The body writhed in a sickly manner. He heaved as Michonne and Morgan approached with their eyes fixated at the outstretched body of Carol.

"He is not to go anywhere," Michonne said sternly. Morgan nodded as best as he could. He didn't look any better than Daryl.

Michonne climbed up the platform. Her heart thundered with each quaking step. Carol had been with them for so long, she had been through so much, she had done so much for the team. What was she to tell everyone? She looked up to see what was left of Carol snapping her neck left and right struggling to get free. Michonne took out her knife. "Did I disappoint you Carol?" The knife dug deeply into the nape of Carol's neck. Carol froze and looked up at the sky one last time before relaxing into her final rest.

Michonne struggled bringing Carol down, but she finally did it. Daryl couldn't even look at her. He was beside himself with grief. Morgan was hunched over probably from guilt. "Get yourself together," she growled. "I'm surprised walkers haven't overrun us by now. Where's Balto?"

Daryl didn't even hear anything, but Morgan looked up with a waive of panic.

"Don't feel guilty for his death too. I can't do anything about him, but I can do something about the both of you. I need you to get your act together and hurry back. The team might need us."

"No," Daryl shook his head as he walked back and forth.

"Yes, and you are going to move on from this. We've still got Rick, Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Tara, Eugene, and everyone else. We don't just need to live for them. We need to live because of the memories of those who died before us. Don't let them die for nothing. Let's live to carry on their memories. Daryl…" Michonne said as she grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes. "We don't need to feel any more loss than what we have already lost today."

Thank you all for reading! If you don't mind critiquing to let me know where I've messed up or just let me know that you liked it. Can't wait to watch the show: February 14 9/8c


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